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Christian Horner and Red Bull Racing refuse to grow complacent

Sebastian Vettel has now won eight consecutive Formula One races. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRPHIC

Red Bull boss Christian Horner accepts that the team’s current dominance will be almost impossible to repeat in the future -- not least because of the Formula One rule changes coming for 2014.

On the radio after the United States Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel urged the team to “enjoy it while we can,” reflecting his own take on future prospects.

“In sport as we see, whether it’s Roger Federer or Ferrari or Williams or McLaren, you get phases of sportsmen or teams being dominant,” said Horner when asked by Autoweek about the team’s current run. “And at some point, that does come to an end, and then you’ve got to regroup and go again. Sebastian’s right, it’s important to savor moments like today. It’s our 46th win and it’s easy to become complacent, and you’ve got to appreciate every moment.

“You’ve only got to look in the eyes of every member of the team to see the motivation and desire that still exists. Even though we won the championship in India, we’ve been pushing flat-out, and as I’ve always said, we will continue to do so all the way to the checkered flag in Brazil next weekend. The target now is to try and get Mark [Webber] that third place in the drivers’ championship and see out the season in style. There’s nobody lacking motivation or [being] complacent in any way.”

Vettel’s desire to continue his run of success makes it highly unlikely that he will feel like helping Webber win in Brazil, but Horner says that will make no difference.

“Mark wouldn’t want to be gifted a win. It would be great for him to win his final race, what a way to sign out, but Sebastian will be going for that record, as well. As usual, it will be a straight fight between the two of them.”